Keeping up with the latest Twitter features

And much like its feed, Twitter itself is no stranger to an update. Already this year, the platform has launched a whole host of new features to its users. While not all of them will be particularly useful for B2B social media campaigns, there are a few that you should be aware of.

Rearranged timeline

In an effort to improve the user experience, Twitter is changing its timeline to display more personalised content. The algorithm will see tweets appear in non-chronological order on a user’s timeline, to ensure they do not miss important posts from those they follow.

So, how does Twitter decide which posts to show you first? While it hasn’t confirmed an exact answer yet, we do know that updates will be customised for each user, perhaps based on the accounts they engage with the most.

For marketers, this may not be the most welcome news; in an already busy environment, they’ll have to work even harder to get noticed. However, currently the change is on an opt-in basis, with users needing to manually activate it in their account settings.

Searchable GIFs

B2B social media marketers will know just how valuable images are when posting. With so many words in one Twitter feed, photos are a great way to catch the eye of the scroller.

And things are about to get a lot more eye-catching. Twitter has announced the upcoming launch of its new GIF searcher, which will allow users to embed moving images to posts.

The functionality is set to be pretty straightforward – when composing a tweet or direct message, the user will be able to select the GIF button on the composer and search for a relevant one. This can then be selected and attached to the tweet, in the same way images can be now.

With just 140 characters to play with, GIFs will not only enable marketers to express far more in each post, but also inject a bit of personality into what they’re trying to convey. And considering Twitter users shared over 100 million GIFs last year, it’s certainly something they’ll appreciate seeing from their favourite brands.

The feature will be rolled out gradually over the next few weeks.

Improved customer service

With so many businesses broadcasting on Twitter, the social platform is taking steps to improve its customer service offering.

The first of these is a new direct messaging feature, allowing companies to add a link to tweets which customers can use to start an immediate conversation with them privately. This has the potential to be positive for both the business and user; no longer will Twitter feeds be clogged with customer service responses, but with valuable content instead.

A new feedback tool will also be added, following requests from brands to have a more structured way to hear back from customers, without being broadcasted for everyone to see.

Now, customers will be able to review a brand’s customer service privately, following an interaction. This will allow users to be completely honest with their feedback, while the brand can feel reassured that any negative comments won’t be seen by other loyal customers.

Have any questions about how these features could be used in your social media campaigns? Tweet us @Fieldworks.